


A Matter of Honor

by LJ_McKay



Category: Mulan (1998)
Genre: Chromatic Yuletide, F/M, Misses Clause Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:34:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21625384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LJ_McKay/pseuds/LJ_McKay
Summary: The women in Mulan's life try to prepare her for her wedding.  Mushu is less than helpful.
Relationships: Fa Mulan/Li Shang
Comments: 11
Kudos: 233
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	A Matter of Honor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [plumeria47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/plumeria47/gifts).



> Many thanks to htbthomas for the beta!

Fa Li had grown to accept that her daughter would never be what she had imagined when her mother, her sisters, and her husband’s mother and sisters told her she had birthed a baby girl. She had even come to appreciate some of the girl’s…oddities. Ancestors knew it was useful to have someone in the family who could frighten off thieves.

But this acceptance, this appreciation, did not prevent Fa Li from lying awake the night before her daughter’s wedding, her heart and her mind racing as if _she_ were the one who had just gone for a long horseback ride in the mountains. She supposed she should be grateful there was a wedding to panic about at all. Ancestors knew she had given up on that prospect long ago, even before the fiasco with the matchmaker.

The matchmaker had been the first hurdle to clear, all those months ago. There had been some debate about whether it was necessary to involve her at all, given that Li Shang was now an orphan and Mulan was…well, Mulan. But Fa Zhou had put his foot down—against his mother, even, surprisingly—and insisted that his daughter would be wed _properly_. Fa Li wondered if he, like her, was remembering their own, entirely traditional, wedding all those years ago. She had not even met her husband until he had come with his parents to offer the dowry, and she remembered being glad that he was handsome and not too much older than her. Fa Li worried about Mulan choosing her own husband; Li Shang’s family was certainly prominent and well-respected, but she didn’t know them. What if they mistreated Mulan? What if they did not share his apparent disregard for her oddities? Fa Li knew, as her daughter would learn, that a woman did not just marry a man; she married his family.

* * *

That nasty, self-important woman barely cracked the door, one beady eye narrowing as she took in Grandmother Fa and her daughter-in-law standing on her porch. At least Fa Li had left Mulan at home. Grandmother Fa loved the girl, but she had to admit that this mission was one that should be done _for_ her, not _with_ her.

“Go away,” the matchmaker hissed, moving to slide the door shut. With impressive speed, Fa Li stuck her foot into the gap, smiling serenely as the matchmaker’s face turned a shade of purple Grandmother Fa usually only saw when her knee acted up.

“Greetings, honorable elder,” Fa Li said smoothly, like she hadn’t just had a door almost slammed in her face. “We wish to speak to you on behalf of my daughter, Fa Mulan,” she paused briefly, “the Emperor’s favored one.”

Grandmother Fa almost leapt in the air and cheered. Instead, she contented herself with smiling blandly at the matchmaker, letting her eyes wander slightly. This usually unsettled people, and the matchmaker was no exception. With a shudder and a sigh, the large woman opened the door and let them in.

She even deigned to pour them tea, the rules of hospitality apparently trumping her dislike of the family, though Grandmother Fa noticed that she was none too careful about the hot liquid splashing on the table, or their clothes. She slammed the teapot down in the middle of the table, sat heavily in her seat, and frowned at them.

“Talk,” she barked.

Fa Li sipped her tea daintily, ignoring the flaring nostrils of the matchmaker. Grandmother Fa nibbled on a honey cake, thoroughly enjoying the show. This was more entertaining than talking to Yang Ju, the town gossip.

Finally, Fa Li placed her teacup—gently—on the table, folded her hands, and said formally, “We’ve come today to discuss my daughter, Fa Mulan, and Li Shang, son of the great hero General Li.”

The matchmaker frowned. “You’re not asking me to find a husband for the girl?”

“We would not want to trouble you, honorable matchmaker.” Fa Li’s words were all honey as she nodded her head respectfully. “We know Mulan is a…challenging prospect.”

The matchmaker snorted, and Grandmother Fa glared at her. She wondered if she could fake a tremor to knock her cup of tea into the woman’s lap. It was something of Fa family tradition after all…

“We wish you to evaluate the families and the signs to determine if the match is an auspicious one,” Fa Li continued.

The matchmaker’s eyes narrowed as she rubbed her chin in what she probably thought was a thoughtful and wise gesture, but Grandmother Fa just thought made her look like she had a rash.

“And what’s in it for me?” she asked finally. “My reputation suffered greatly after my last encounter with that insufferable child. Not to mention the weeks it took me to repair my chamber.”

Grandmother Fa knew for a fact the matchmaker had hired Yang Ju’s grandson for one afternoon to build some cheap furniture and buy a new teapot from the market. _And_ she had stiffed him.

Fa Li’s eyebrow twitched but she still maintained her composure. Remarkable girl. A good match she had made for her boy. “That was before ‘that insufferable child’ grew into her own.” She paused. “And saved all China from the Huns, earning, as I believe I mentioned before, the emperor’s own favor.” The matchmaker blinked in the face of Fa Li’s unblinking stare. “Your _reputation_ will only be enhanced.”

The matchmaker swallowed. “Very well,” she sighed. “Tell me their signs.”

* * *

“Hsssst!”

Mulan waved an arm vaguely at the noise but didn’t really wake up.

“Hsssssst! Mulan!”

The harsh whisper finally got her to blink sleepily—and then her eyes snapped open and she leaped out of bed.

“What time is it?” she shrieked, alarmed by how high the sun already was.

“High time for a blushing bride to get outta bed and get to her own wedding,” Mushu snarked, his head just peeking over the window sill.

“Oh no oh no oh no,” Mulan moaned, scrambling to pull on a decent dress. “Not again! Mama’s going to kill me…”

“‘Not again’? How many times you gotten married?” Mushu asked in surprise before dodging the slipper that sailed at his head. “Okay, okay, sorry. I didn’t think you of all people was gonna be a Bridezilla…”

“If you can’t be helpful, go…go talk to Shang or something!” Mulan snapped, hopping on one foot as she pulled on a shoe. She checked her reflection quickly in the bottom of a copper bowl, squinting as she tried to decide if her hair really looked that terrible or if it was just her upside-down reflection. She ran her fingers through it anyway, hopelessly, before giving up and running for the stables.

* * *

Li Shang gave a final kick, finishing the set of practice forms. He settled into a meditative position to slow his breathing and focus his mind. This day, of all days, he needed to be calm and present. He couldn’t recall being this nervous since the day his father—his breath caught slightly at the thought of him—had granted him command of the regiment. That was, of course, the same day he had met Mulan…Suppressing a smile at the memory of her awkward attempts to fit in with the troops, he emptied his mind and returned to his meditation.

“Shang! Yo, Shang!” someone called. Shang frowned at the overfamiliar address from an unfamiliar voice. “Yeah, you, pretty boy!” the voice continued, and Shang opened his eyes, seeking the offender. Behind a nearby bush, a small lizard appeared to be…waving?

Shang blinked, trying not to panic. It must be his nerves causing him to hallucinate. He closed his eyes again and tried to think of nothing. If he could only get his mind to quiet—

“Oh, we ain't got time for this,” the voice muttered, closer now, and someone slapped him.

Shang leapt to his feet, eyes flying open as he reached for the staff he had been practicing with earlier. There was no one there, though, just that same lizard standing at his feet…with its hands on its hips? Did lizards have hips…or hands?

“Yes, it’s me,” the lizard said smugly.

“Wha—who?” Shang stammered.

“Mushu! From the stories? Now that you’re part of the family, you can see me,” it explained.

“What…stories?”

The lizard frowned. “She never told you how I helped her defeat the Hun army? Oh that is rich; I’mma have some words with her.” It looked back up at him. “Well, I’m a Fa family guardian, all right? So welcome to the Fa family; now come with me, Mulan needs our help!”

The thing—lizard, guardian, hallucination, whatever—had said the magic words.

“Help? What’s wrong? Where is she?” Shang instinctively dropped into a fighting stance.

“Oh, it’s awful, man,” the lizard moaned, wringing its hands. “They’re torturing her! The screams!”

Shang seized the little creature in his fist and brought it eye to eye with him. “Take me to her,” he growled. “Now.”

It saluted, wriggled out of his fist, and ran toward town, gesturing for him to follow. Shang grabbed his staff and did just that.

* * *

Mulan was _trying_ to cooperate with the women, she really was. She just kept getting distracted, trying to remember all the steps of the tea ceremony or thinking of how she would tell Shang the funny things the women said or comparing all the orders they were barking at her to army life.

“Sit!”

“Pout!”

“Look here!”

“Turn!”

She yelped as someone—maybe Yu Yan’s mother? she had lost track of all the women bustling around the house—yanked a brush through her hair…or tried to.

“How did you do this?” Yu Chen asked, exasperated. “Did you rub your head the ground and then stand in a windstorm?” She held a handful of hair out and attacked it with the brush. Mulan yelped again.

“Ouch! No! It just—ow!—has a mind of its own,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Just like you,” her mother chimed in, but there was affection in her voice and she winked at Mulan over the nails she was painting. Mulan was still getting used to this new side of her mother, the one that didn’t seem to think she was a giant embarrassment barely worthy of the family name. She was pretty sure it had a lot to do with Shang, but she was grateful for it nonetheless.

“And a good thing, too,” Grandmother Fa crowed, wandering into the room munching on something. “If you hadn’t run off to war, you never would have landed that hottie!”

Some of the women looked scandalized at the reminder of Mulan’s wild scheme, but most of them laughed and began sharing their own thoughts about Shang. Mulan grinned, secretly a bit proud that, against all odds, her husband was by far the best looking of any of the village girls’. That wasn’t why she was marrying him, but it was a nice bonus.

Hua Jiaying seized one of her feet and began scrubbing it roughly with a pumice stone. Mulan jumped in surprise, screaming as Yu Chen’s brush caught in a nasty snarl and kicking over the bowl of water her feet had been soaking in. Her mother, Yu Chen, and the woman painting her face all scolded her for disrupting their work, and the rest of the women in the room danced and shrieked as the water spread across the floor.

The door burst open and the women screamed louder. Shang stood in the doorway, staff raised and chest heaving as he looked around frantically. Everyone stood frozen, staring at him. Grandmother Fa waved cheerily.

After what seemed like an hour, Shang slowly lowered his staff, face growing red. Mulan would have laughed, except that she was dealing with her own embarrassment at being seen half-dressed, half-painted, with hair like a yaoguai, by her fiancé, mere hours before their wedding. What had he been thinking?

And then, as Shang slowly turned, Mulan knew. Mushu. The little dragon stood behind Shang, grinning that toothy grin of his. He wiggled his fingers in a sheepish wave—then bolted as Shang leapt after him with a bellow.

* * *

Grandmother Fa held her breath as Mulan prepared the tea for Li Shang’s family. She wanted to cover her eyes, but settled for quietly grabbing Fa Li’s hand instead. Fa Li looked surprised, then gave a small smile and a gentle squeeze. Grandmother Fa could feel that she was just as tense, her eyes following Mulan’s every move.

She was doing pretty well, actually. She looked amazing, the red of her dress bringing out the glow of her cheeks against her white face. Her headdress balanced delicately on her sleek hair, and you couldn’t even tell it was secured by an unholy number of pins. (That had been Grandmother Fa’s idea. You didn’t want your headdress falling off in the middle of bowing to your new in-laws!) She delicately placed a teacup in front of Shang’s oldest uncle and began to pour, her hand surprisingly steady.

Mulan paused and Grandmother Fa could swear the entire room breathed in at once in nervous anticipation. Had she forgotten what to do next? Would her bad luck find her again, today of all days?

But the moment passed. Mulan gracefully handed the teapot to Shang, and Grandmother Fa wondered if anyone else noticed her ever-so-slightly exhale and smile. She was just as relieved as her granddaughter, feeling more like herself and beginning to enjoy the occasion. She winked at Shang as he approached to pour her tea. He blushed and fumbled slightly, but managed to pour her tea without spilling. Oh yes, she was going to enjoy having him around!

* * *

Fa Li watched her daughter gazing at her new husband, all but ignoring their food and the well-wishes of the wedding guests. The women had done an excellent job getting Mulan ready today, and to her own credit, Mulan was inhabiting the dress and the makeup in a much more relaxed and confident way than usual. Fa Li let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, grateful that her daughter had found happiness without compromising herself.

Her eyes sought out her own husband, searching the crowded party until they found him engaged in a serious conversation with three comedically proportioned soldiers. He seemed to feel her eyes on him, as he looked up and found her watching him. He graced her with a rare smile, nodding approvingly at the newlyweds, and she smiled back, overwhelmed with gratitude for her family.

“We did it!” a voice cheered from behind her as a bony hand clapped her on the back. Fa Li turned to see her mother-in-law smiling toothlessly, a caged cricket clutched in one hand and…a lizard perched on her shoulder? Fa Li shook her head, chuckling affectionately.

“I think Mulan earned this one herself,” she said honestly.

“Hmph,” Grandmother Fa snorted. “She caught him herself, fair enough, but I take full credit for that headdress!”

Fa Li laughed. “I will grant you that.”

* * *

Mushu dabbed at his eyes with a corner of a tablecloth. Grandmother Fa had wandered off to talk to one of Shang’s cousins, a good-looking young man who looked alarmed by her attentions.

“Our baby girl, all grown up and gettin’ married,” he sighed.

Cri-Kee chirped in agreement.

“I do love weddings. Come on, Cri-Kee, let’s dance!”


End file.
